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The Texas Tribune-
Gov. Greg Abbott has agreed to spend up to $2.7 million in taxpayer funds to bring the barrage of blood, sweat and spandex that is WrestleMania to Texas next year.
During his 2014 campaign for governor, Abbott expressed discomfort with such taxpayer-funded economic incentives, saying he wanted to get government "out of the business of picking winners and losers.”
But last week, his office signed off on the award from the state’s Events Trust Fund, state records show, one of 20 such awards approved since September. That's when the governor's office took the reins of a few incentive programs designed to strengthen Texas' hand in vying for large sporting events and conferences from the state comptroller's office.
The Events Trust Fund is designed to defray the costs of some large events by paying state taxes collected during the events, such as those levied on hotel reservations and car rentals, back to event organizers. Local governments or nonprofits they authorize must approve the events, and the cities that host them are required to chip in some of their local tax receipts, too.
In just over three months, Abbott’s office has approved more than $26 million in incentive awards for 20 events, according to a review of state records. Nearly three-quarters of that money, $19.5 million, is assigned to a single event, this year’s Formula One race in Austin. That award has been a source of controversy, as it is less than the $25 million the race has received in state support in the three previous years.
Officials in the governor’s office say that figure is lower than it was in previous years because they are calculating tax revenue gained from such events differently than the comptroller did. A September report from the State Auditor’s Office found that the comptroller’s office was at times overly generous in calculating some awards by factoring in estimates of tax revenue that were not permitted under state law.
“With this change came consistency, accountability and increased efficiency for the state’s event trust fund programs,” said Cait Meisenheimer, a spokeswoman in Abbott’s office.
Bernie Ecclestone, chief executive of the Formula One Group, told the Austin American-Statesman last month that the reduction in state support could lead to the event’s cancellation.
After Formula One, WrestleMania is the largest award Abbott has approved. WWE, which puts on WrestleMania, announced in January that its 2016 event would be held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Multiple venues around the country lobbied for the event, which could have an economic impact akin to a Super Bowl, according to Marty MacInnis, chief financial officer for the Stadium Events Organizing Committee, which handles such bids for AT&T Stadium. Organizers are hoping to draw more than 90,000 attendees, which would be a record for the event.
“It’s a massive event,” MacInnis said. “... They’ve got fan festivals. They’ve got golf tournaments. They’ve got rallies. It’s one of those things where people from all over the world will come to this.”
The potential for a state subsidy helped the organizing committee plan out its bid and determine how much it could ultimately agree to pay WWE, MacInnis said. The total funding WWE is receiving for the event is still being worked out, he said.
“The trust fund played a part in the decision to try and bid for the event,” MacInnis said. He added that while organizers weren't sure they'd get the incentive funds, they were optimistic.
The other 18 events approved for incentives by Abbott’s office each drew awards of less than $1 million. The Irving Tennis Classic, scheduled for March, drew the smallest state award at $27,959.
Since 2004, the state has spent more than $300 million subsidizing over 500 events around the state, according to state records. Under state law, the Events Trust Fund can defray the costs of an event in which a Texas venue is in competition with other sites. A separate Major Events Reimbursement Program handles subsidies for a specific list of high-profile events, such as Super Bowls and Formula One races.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) —
Gun-rights groups that wanted to stage a mock mass shooting at the University of Texas agreed to move their event off-campus after getting a warning from the school that they could be arrested.
The groups Come and Take It Texas and Dontcomply.com announced plans for the Saturday event that would include cardboard guns and fake blood.
The Austin campus is the site of one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history: sniper Charles Whitman killed 16 people in 1966, shooting dozens of victims from a perch atop the central clock tower.
The university issued a statement Wednesday warning that the Austin campus isn't open to outside groups staging demonstrations. The university said violators could face criminal trespassing charges.
The groups then said they would move their demonstration to an area next to campus.
Organizers said the purpose of staging a mock shooting is to rally support for gun rights. The event would come less than two weeks after shooters killed 14 people in San Bernardino, California.
University officials said they support free speech but outside groups are routinely barred from demonstrating on campus.
"When outside individuals come on campus and violate our rules regarding use of our grounds and facilities, they are asked to leave. If they do not, it becomes a criminal trespass matter," Texas spokesman J.B. Bird said.
The groups planning the mock mass shooting would coincide with a planned "open carry" march in Austin with demonstrators carrying long rifles.
State law currently bans guns from college campuses, but that will change next year. State lawmakers voted to allow concealed handgun license holders to bring their weapons on campus, including classrooms and dorms, with some limitations.
University of Texas officials will soon release recommendations on where concealed handguns will be allowed and where they will still be prohibited.
The law has met vigorous resistance from students and faculty. Some teachers have threated to quit or sue if they are not allowed to ban guns from their classrooms.
DALLAS (AP) —
A new spike in unaccompanied Central American minors crossing illegally into the United States is pushing federal officials to open shelters in Texas and California.
A total of 10,588 unaccompanied children crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in October and November, more than double the 5,129 who crossed during the same two months last year, according to the U.S. Border Patrol. The number of family members crossing together has nearly tripled, to 12,505.
Increasing gang violence is pushing people out of Central America, said Maureen Meyer, a senior associate for Mexico and migrant rights at the Washington Office on Latin America.
"We need to look at this as much more a refugee situation," she said. Migrating through Mexico and across the U.S. border is very dangerous, but "the level of desperation" in their home countries is making families decide it's worth the risk, she said.
More migrants are crossing the border even as new checkpoints between Central America and the United States are turning thousands of people back, said Emilio Gonzalez Gonzalez, a political scientist and independent researcher in Mexico City.
"We are not talking traditional migration trends. This is a new refugee influx and it should be managed that way," he said. "They could be candidates for international protection."
Incoming family groups are usually sent first to detention centers, and adult migrants are often jailed when they are apprehended, but children traveling alone need special treatment under federal law, so officials plan to open at least three shelters — two in Texas and one in California — to accommodate them.
The additional beds will enable the U.S. Health and Human Services Department to shelter up to 9,800 unaccompanied minors at a time.
"What we don't want to have happen is have a backup of people" at the border, agency spokesman Mark Weber said. "We are making sure we have the capacity in place to take care of the children."
By law, the Border Patrol has 72 hours to turn unaccompanied minors from Central America over to Health and Human Services, which is then responsible for their care until they are placed with a sponsor or have an immigration hearing.
Border crossings have not reached the levels of two summers ago, when a migrant surge prompted Texas officials to deploy the National Guard. More than 10,000 children arrived in the United States that June alone.
Still, the numbers began to pick up again this June, and have remained high since then. It remains to be seen whether this is a true resurgence, but Meyer says it is a telling sign that more families and children are coming during fall and winter months, when migration generally slows down.
As many as 1,000 of the children will stay at two rural camps outside Dallas: the Sabine Creek Ranch in Rockwall County and the Lakeview Camp and Retreat Center in Ellis County.
Lakeview's executive director, Jaroy Carpenter, announced that a team of 200 adults are ready to work with new arrivals at the camp.
"While here, these students will experience recreation, education, church services, and other typical camp programming," Carpenter said in a letter on the camp's website. "It is an absolute privilege that we have the facility, infrastructure, and support to coordinate such an opportunity in service to displaced children."
U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, a Texas Republican who represents Ellis County, said he expects the children to stay no more than 21 days, and that local authorities will hire off-duty police officers or sheriff's deputies to help with security.
Barton said he's against keeping the children in North Texas, and would support requiring unaccompanied minors to be returned immediately to their home countries.
"As soon as we do change it, you won't have these thousands and thousands coming," Barton said. "They're coming because they've found a back-door way into the country. If we close that back door, they won't try to come."
Some Texas officials said they weren't consulted beforehand, and that security is a concern. Judge David Sweet, Rockwell county's top administrator, said Thursday he's been told that 300 children, all from Central America, are arriving in his county.
"It goes without saying that we're very sensitive (to) the plight of unaccompanied children," Sweet said. But, he added, public safety "has to be my No. 1. Public safety has to be first and foremost."